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What's the world's biggest-selling spirit? Given three guesses, many of us might say whisky, followed, by vodka, rum or gin. We'd be wrong.

The answer, in fact, is 'baijiu'. It makes sense. China's population is closing in on the 1.4 billion mark (over a billion more individuals than the United States), and, even discounting the teetotal – for religious or age-related reasons – that's still a lot of people. With baijiu hoovering up 99.6 per cent of Chinese spirit sales, it's unsurprising that it outstrips better-known (in these parts, at least) Western spirits.

Last week, Brand Finance, a brand valuation and strategy consultancy, released a report highlighting the world's 10 most valuable spirit...